The Prime Minister of Palestine’s legal government announced that Hamas would never officially recognize the Zionist regime.

Ismail Haniyeh emphasized that the Zionist regime is illegal.

Hamas will not show any acts of opposition if a Palestinian nation is created on the lands that were occupied in and after 1967. It will strive to make such a thing happen.

The prime minister stated that Hamas is starting a new era in foundational aspects of the resistance and in Palestinian security. They will rebuild Gaza in such a way that the Palestinian civilians will be able to be protected.

Haniyeh also requested the international community to criminally try the Zionist leaders who committed war crimes against the people of Gaza; war crimes such as using weapons of mass destruction against the oppressed people of Palestine. He wants them to be tried in the International Court in the Hague.

Reserve soldiers of the Israeli army who participated in the Gaza War said that Israeli commanders ordered the soldiers to shoot and not worry about the consequences.

Amir Marmor, a 33-year-old reserve soldier, said in this regard: “He said in this operation we are not taking any chances. Morality aside, we have to do our job. We will cry about it later.”

A Zionist newspaper published reports of this nature on Thursday. They affirmed that some of their fellow soldiers killed innocent people in the Gaza War, which ended about two months ago. They killed children because they were sure that nobody would legally pursue the matter.

According to one of the reports an Israeli sniper killed a Palestinian woman and two children because he did not understand the command given to him by another soldier.

The Zionist regime responded to these reports by saying that a criminal investigation must be performed in regards to the claims of the soldiers. Ehud Barak said that these exceptional reports would be looked into with precision.

A group of former Israeli soldiers called ‘Breaking the Silence,’ after reporting from 15 soldiers, told the Guardian that there are other reports of killing civilians and destroying houses.

After these reports were published Palestinian groups and human rights groups accused the Zionist regime of disregarding international law in the attack on Gaza.

New evidence shows the depths of the crimes committed by the Zionist army against the Palestinian people, especially in its latest attack on Gaza.

A team of Israeli doctors accused the Israeli army of attacking medical centers in the Gaza War. The evidence provided for this accusation came from international human rights organizations and confessions of soldiers in the Israeli army who were sent to attack Palestinian civilians.

The organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel stated: “Not only did the Israeli army surround families not saving the injured, rather it did not even allow Palestinian doctors to enter the attacked areas in order to heal the injured.”

Israel, in some cases, did not even give the permission for the injured to be carried out of the ‘hot areas’ leaving the injured for extended periods of time without food and water.

Zoë Bintwich, a member of the Physicians for Human Rights-Isreal, said: “In my opinion, that which took place in Gaza, was ordered by the highest level of Israeli officials. The soldiers shot at the civilians in Palestine without making any sort of distinctions.”

This organization also announced: “16 doctors were killed by Israeli bullets in the Gaza War and 25 others were wounded while performing their duties.”

The Zionist newspaper Haaretz pulled the curtains of the terrible crimes that the Zionist regime committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Haaretz showed proof of the genocide committed against civilians in Gaza. It wrote that Israeli commanders ordered the murder of civilians and the destruction of houses.

This newspaper, quoting a Zionist soldier, wrote that he attacked a Palestinian house during the Gaza War. The mother and two children were imprisoned in one room and the house was transformed into their base. Then, after a few days the Palestinians were permitted to leave their house. They were told to walk on the right side of the road, but when they started moving they were shot by Israeli forces.

The Zionist regime’s army in the 22-Day-War in Gaza martyred at least 1350 Palestinian civilians, including 600 women and children. They caused at least three billion dollars of damage to the infrastructure of this land as well.

The international court in the Hague, under pressure from the world public opinion, announced that it will soon look into the war crimes committed in Gaza and will pursue criminal Zionists.

The Zionist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that Louis Moreno Ocampom, a prosecutor for the international court, announced in an interview with an Argentinan newspaper that The Hague has started its research into the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in the latest war.

He added that this court will look into the widespread usage of white phosphorus bombs by the Zionist regime throughout the military invasion of Gaza.

Yedioth Ahronoth added that the hatred for the Zionist regime after the Gaza war has increased.

This Zionist newspaper clearly stated that the war against the people living in Gaza created a wave of hatred and enmity towards Israel – so much so that it has not been seen in the last two years.

This wave of hatred caused anti-Israeli protests which demanded the ambassadors of Israel to be expelled from the respective countries and warned that the Israeli leaders will be criminally tried. The relations with the European Union fell and Israel is in a bad state now.

The international prosecutor stated that many requests were sent from the Palestinian people to the Hague and are all being reviewed.

Also, a French lawyer, along with forty other French lawyers, announced that the time has come for the criminals of Gaza (the Zionist regime) to be tried.

Jill DeFayrz in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, announced in regards to the Zionist crimes that, along with 40 lawyers, a draft will be written and will be presented to the international court backed by 450 law firms.

She said that the purpose behind this action was to implement the law and to oppose the crimes which this regime committed in Gaza.

She clearly stated that the people who committed crimes in Gaza must not be able to escape the law otherwise the rights of the oppressed would not be recognized.

This French lawyers said that the crimes committed were the murder of 1300 Palestinians living in Gaza and injuring the same amount – most of them being left without limbs.

DeFayrz added that these injured people are evidence of how Israel targeted schools, homes, and hospitals.

She added that she has proof that shows that Israel used phosphorous bombs in broad daylight during this war.

George Galloway, one of the opposition leaders in the British Parliament, also stated in this regards that the west must wake up from the spells of Israel.

He added that Israel attacked Gaza and killed many people. Unfortunately the world remained silent and The Hague also forgot to try the Zionist regime for their crimes.

The Zionist regime is afraid that some more Israeli soldiers would be captured by the Palestinian forces and therefore raised the security level.

The Zionist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that the commander in chief of the Israeli army called for a complete ‘on guards’ for the whole army.

This newspaper stated that the purpose of this ‘on guards’ is because Palestinian groups are trying to capture Israeli soldiers. Ahronoth added that on Wednesday one of the Arab residents in Jerusalem wanted to capture an Israeli air force captain in the bazaar.

The 22-Day-War in Gaza was another scene of the Zionist regime in Israel breaking international treaties. Israel did create any red lines for itself in this war and used forbidden weapons as much as possible. It is unfortunate that the international community, who should have supported the oppressed nation at that time, remained silent and allowed the Zionists to continue their crimes.

Active medics in Gaza confessed that the Zionist regime used forbidden weapons in the Gaza War; weapons which were forbidden in international law.

They announced that when the injured Palestinians – injured by white phosphorus bombs – were treated burns were seen that were not seen in any other burn victims.

A German physician witnessed the injured Palestinians and stated that he saw victims of chemical warfare throughout the war and that this was the first time he was faced with such patients. Many other doctors were faced with these types of patients.

These new injuries and burns show that Israel used forbidden chemical weapons abundantly because the victims were numerous.

The doctors in Gaza believe that the injuries inflicted might not seem so deep but in the future the damage that they caused to their muscles and joints will be seen.

The famous reporter for Qatar’s Al-Jazeera stated that the latest speech by Ayatollah Khamenei in the conference in Tehran is a way to solve the Palestinian Issue. He emphasized the need to form an official organization which would follow up the judicial process condemning the Zionist crimes.

Ghassan bin Jiddu, a famous reporter for Qatar’s Al-Jazeera and who was the head of its Tehran office for sometime, stated in a conversation with a Fars News agent in regards to the latest Palestinian conference that was held in Tehran: “The timing of this conference is very important. I believe that it is the only large conference after the attack on Gaza which supports the resistance.”

Bin Jiddu stated in regards to the recent Sharm al-Shaykh conference: “The Sharm al-Shaykh conference was established with the slogan of rebuilding Gaza. But, I believe that the main purpose behind it was weakening the resistance of Hamas through political and economic blockades. They did this to take away from the victory of the resistance against the Zionist regime.”

In regards to the crimes that the Zionist regime committed against the innocent women and children of Gaza he clearly stated: “After the Gaza War many voices wanted the Zionist regime to be tried. In my opinion for this to be practical an official organization must be formed which would have the responsibility of following up legal battles against the Zionist regime and the crimes they committed against the people of Gaza.”

The reported from Al-Jazeera stated that one of the strengths of the conference was the presence of high Iranian officials in support of Gaza and Palestine. He stated: “It rarely happens that the Supreme Leader, the three heads of the Islamic Republic, and the other high officials of this country, come together and attend a conference. This shows the importance that was given to this conference.”

In regards to the speech by Ayatollah Khamenei, he said: “Iran’s leader spoke about the extremely important issues of the conference. Acting in accordance to what he said would solve many of the problems that the Palestinians are facing.”

Bin Jiddu, a Tunisian reporter, immediately went to the war-torn areas of Gaza after the fighting stopped. He said that the purpose behind this trip was: “To picture the activities and the strength of the resistance and the Palestinian warriors was my clear purpose. Interviews were taken and therefore, I went there to try to show how these military leaders were.”

He ended by saying: “Today the resistance is a reality that cannot be denied. Nobody can weaken it. It is up to us to use them politically in order to overcome the Zionists.”

Hamas isn’t Hizballah and Gaza isn’t Lebanon. The resistance in Gaza — which includes leftist and nationalist as well as Islamist forces — doesn’t have mountains to fight in. It has no strategic depth. It doesn’t have Syria behind it to keep supply lines open; instead it has Israel’s wall and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s goons. Lebanese civilians can flee north and east, while Gaza’s repeat-refugees have no escape. The Lebanese have their farms, and supplies from outside; Gaza has been under total siege for years. Hizballah has remarkable discipline and is surely the best-trained, most disciplined force in the region. Although it has made great strides, Hamas is still undisciplined. Crucially, Hizballah has air-tight intelligence control in Lebanon, while Gaza contains collaborators like maggots in a corpse.

But Hamas is still standing. On the rare occasions when Israel actually fought — rather than just called in air strikes — its soldiers reported “ferocious” resistance. Hamas withstood 22 days of the most barbaric bombing Zionism has yet stooped to, and did not surrender. Rocket fire continued from Gaza after Israel declared its unilateral ceasefire.

Let’s put this in context. In 1947-48 Zionist militias drove out more than 700,000 Palestinians without too much trouble. In 1967 it took Israel six days to destroy the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies, and to capture the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Zionism’s last “victory” was the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut in 1982 — if it was a victory.

The long and bloody occupation of Lebanon gave birth to new forms of resistance. Where Arab states and armies had failed, popular resistance removed American and French forces from Beirut, and then steadily rolled back the Israelis. The first suicide bomber of the conflict was a Marxist woman of Christian background. The human bomb was a tactic to which Israeli troops had no answer. Hizballah formed, and developed into the power that would drive Israel from almost all of Lebanon by 2000. In 2006 Israel returned, in an effort to finish the resistance once and for all. What happened was a historic turnaround: for five weeks Israeli troops bled in the border villages, and failed to move beyond them. For the first time, the hi-tech, first-world savagery of the Zionist army, supposedly the fourth strongest army in the world, was kept at bay. Israel of course killed far more civilians than Hizballah did, and performed its usual rampage against civilian infrastructure, but in terms of the soldiers in battle, casualties were roughly equal.

There has been a lot of talk, particularly by Arab collaborators, about Hizballah being an Iranian proxy. While Iran does assist the resistance with weapons and funds, the Lebanese resistance is Lebanese, the creation of the villagers of the south and the Bekaa, and the families of the southern suburbs of Beirut. It was the people themselves who turned Zionism back. Even more improbably, the same collaborators now accuse Hamas, a democratically-elected Palestinian Sunni movement, of taking orders from Tehran.

One reason given for this latest massacre in Gaza was Israel’s desire to restore its deterrence after the 2006 debacle. Certainly the Arabs now know (as if they didn’t know before) that any whisper of resistance will be met by the most fanatical violence. Certainly Hamas and others will have to factor this into their tactical decisions. But in strategic terms the Israeli deterrent looks even shoddier than it did a month ago. The Arab peoples are no longer scared of Israel, whatever Israel throws at them. A psychological tipping point has been passed, and this, in the long term, counts for more than nuclear bombs.

Even as Western and Zionist officials grin and hug, the siege of Gaza continues and the people are now facing starvation. However, their suffering seems to have strengthened the resistance. The communities of south Lebanon and south Beirut, those which suffered most in 2006, have redoubled their loyalty to Hizballah.

In spite of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza, in Palestine and throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hamas and the resistance option it represents is immeasurably stronger. The ridiculous no-longer-president-of-anything Mahmoud Abbas, and the gangs loyal to Fatah warlord Muhammad Dahlan, are much weaker. It wasn’t Abbas but Hamas political chief in exile, Khaled Meshal who represented Palestine at the Doha emergency summit last month. While the Abbas-Dahlan traitors arrested Hamas activists, and tried (and largely failed) to suppress solidarity demonstrations on the West Bank, the resistance was standing firm against Zionist terror.

In solidarity with the resistance, Palestinians in Israel organized the biggest demonstrations in their history. There is no doubt to which nation these Palestinians belong, especially in the eyes of the main Israeli political parties, which sought to ban Arab parties from standing in the approaching elections on the grounds of “disloyalty” to the apartheid state.

What now? Enough nonsensical talk of peace processes. Peace might be nice, but it isn’t, and never has been, on the agenda. It is time to build a new Palestine Liberation Organization, as elected as possible, to represent all Palestinians, both Islamist and secular, those living in the lands stolen in 1948, the lands stolen in 1967, and those in exile. The Palestinian Authority should be abolished, and the Oslo/Road Map farce officially abandoned. Then Palestinians have to decide what their aims and strategies will be. The two-state solution is no solution. There is a huge amount of work to do. All Palestinians should agitate for the new organization.

Despite intensive efforts by Israel, the international community and a number of Arab leaders to weaken and destroy Hamas through economic, punitive and military action, the Islamist organisation continues to be a force to reckon with.

Hamas won free and fair democratic elections in January 2006. The U.S. pushed for these elections, which were monitored by international observers including ex-U.S. president Jimmy Carter, and Israel permitted them to be held.

Hamas has since then been dominant, though it took effective control in June 2007, more than a year after its election victory. The Gaza Strip, which the resistance group controls, took a serious battering during Israel’s 22-day military assault, codenamed Operation Cast Lead.

The coastal territory has also been economically crippled by nearly two years of an Israeli embargo which has hermetically sealed Gaza off from the rest of the world, preventing the import of all but a tiny flow of humanitarian aid and goods.

Israel purportedly carried out the military operation to stop Palestinian rockets from hitting Israeli cities and towns bordering the Gaza Strip.

However, rocket fire on Israel had virtually ceased in the five months of ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which preceded an Israeli cross-border military operation into Gaza on Nov. 4. This operation provoked a barrage of retaliatory missiles on Israel.

Prior to Operation Cast Lead, a delegation of British parliamentarians met with Hamas leaders in Gaza. The parliamentarians were told that Hamas would be prepared to accept Israel’s existence, within the internationally recognised borders of 1967, provided the Jewish state legitimised the rights of Palestinians in return.

Despite the immense scale of death and destruction wrought by Operation Cast Lead, which left over 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians dead, rockets continue to be fired at Israel in spite of disproportionate responses from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Following the recent ceasefire most of Hamas’s leadership emerged from underground bunkers unscathed. The digging of smuggling tunnels for everyday necessities as well as arms has resumed.

Furthermore, there are also growing signs that the Europeans, some Israelis and previous Arab opponents are resigned to factoring Hamas into any political equation to address a resolution of the conflict.

Last week after several days of intensive diplomatic pressure, the Israeli government managed to stymie a French initiative to weaken the Jewish state’s stance on Hamas.

Following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, France tried to change a pre-written closing statement released by the ministers regarding the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

Paris wanted the statement to say that the EU would be prepared to hold talks with a future Palestinian unity government which included Hamas as long as it agreed to honour the principles of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Additionally, the French delegation to Brussels proposed opening Israeli border crossings into Gaza immediately without any conditions. A previous agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2005 stipulated that the PA had to control the crossings.

However, following intervention by Israel, the Czech Republic – the current holder of the EU presidency – Germany, Italy and the Netherlands pushed the French initiative off the agenda.

Israel viewed the French move as an attempt to get the Quartet for Middle East peace – the UN, the U.S., Russia and the EU – to soften its conditions for international recognition of Hamas.

A senior Israeli official said that since the end of the Gaza operation, his country was concerned about a possible break in European support for the boycott of the Hamas government in Gaza.

During the meeting the Gaza ceasefire was discussed and Kouchner stressed the need for inter-Palestinian dialogue and for the border crossings into Gaza to be reopened.

Kouchner again suggested France was open to the idea of a unity government if Hamas softened its stance.

Meanwhile, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin told reporters in Damascus on Monday that some kind of engagement with Hamas may have to feature in future European Union policy.

Hamas’s erstwhile foe and bitter rival Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank, also discussed the issue with French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris on Monday.

Abbas too called for a unity Palestinian government and said Hamas’s inclusion was imperative as long as it recognised his supreme authority.

On Monday Sarkozy also met Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, whose Persian Gulf country has emerged as a regional mediator since helping to resolve a political crisis in Lebanon last year. Al-Thani insisted Hamas should not be sidelined from peace efforts.

“We must work for a government of national unity between the Palestinians. There should not be efforts to delete or distance one of the Palestinian parties present on the ground,” Al-Thani told reporters.

Israeli columnist and analyst Akiva Elder noted in the daily Haaretz that Israel’s continual denial of the reality of Hamas as a legitimate political entity was short-sighted.

For 20 years Israel has tried to destroy the movement using carrots and sticks alternately. The only difference between the ruling Kadima party’s leader and minister of foreign affairs, Tzipi Livni, and the more right-wing opposition Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu is the size of the clubs to be used, argued Eldar.

“Precisely because of the many children killed in Gaza, Cast Lead has been assured a place of honour in the ethos of the struggle of the Palestinian David, armed with primitive Qassams, and the Israeli Goliath, with his F-16s,” said Eldar.

“When they hear the proud declarations of Israel’s leaders, to the effect that deterrence has been restored, Hamas’s leaders certainly laugh themselves to death, and not just because of the rockets that continue to fall on the people of Ashkelon.

“The threat of a few more bombs on Gaza deters them like the death penalty deters a suicide bomber on the way to carry out an attack,” said Eldar.

Only a long-term ceasefire, it seems, accompanied by a real diplomatic context, can pull the rug of popular support out from under Hamas and restore it to its natural proportions.